


Trick or Treat

by Pigzxo



Series: Wyndolliday Raises A Baby [3]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Halloween, M/M, Multi, Sharing a Bed, Sleep Deprivation, Trick or Treating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-26 06:43:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12551496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigzxo/pseuds/Pigzxo
Summary: Wynonna, Doc, and Dolls take Alice trick-or-treating.





	Trick or Treat

“Can a baby wear a cowboy hat?”

            Dolls looked up from his newspaper. His feet were up on the desk but his whole posture was sunken back and relaxed. “Why do I feel like I don’t want to know why you’re asking?”

            “It’s nothing so sinister,” Doc said. He didn’t look up from the computer. His hand hesitated on the mouse as he squinted at the screen. It probably didn’t help that Jeremy was hovering so close, bouncing up and down, like he was afraid Doc could break technology just by looking at it. (And that had only happened _once_.) “I’m looking up Halloween costumes for little Alice.”

            “I thought Waverly was in charge of that.” Dolls managed to make his tone bored but he didn’t pick his newspaper back up. “She was looking at butterfly wings yesterday.”

            “Butterfly wings,” Doc snorted. “No daughter of mine is gonna go flouncing around as a _butterfly_ for Halloween.”

            “Why not? What does the great Doc Holliday have against butterflies?”

            Doc stayed silent.

            Dolls moved his feet off the desk and approached. Laying a hand on Doc’s shoulder, he squeezed and shook him a bit. He knew the smile on his face was wild, wicked, and that he was making Jeremy jealous with the ease at which he touched Doc. “Come on, Doc,” he said. “What’s wrong with butterflies?”

            “They’re too hard to shoot,” he grumbled.

            Dolls smiled, barely managing not to laugh, and exchanged a glance with Jeremy. Swallowing hard, Dolls said, “Certainly you’d _want_ your daughter to be hard to shoot?”

            “Go to hell,” Doc said without any real fire.

            Dolls clapped him hard on the back and looked up at the computer screen. On it was a tiny cowboy hat that said it was suitable for infants. “Would it fall down?” Dolls asked. “You don’t want her to suffocate if the thing slips.”

            “It’s got a little chin strap.”

            “That might not be safe.” Dolls leaned over and opened a new window to search for cowboy hats. Part of him was uncomfortably aware of how close he was to Doc. He could feel every inch of his body that was pressed against Doc’s, the warmth of the other man, his breath tickling his neck. Dolls cleared his throat and pulled back. Tapping the screen, he said, “That might work.”

            “That’s not a real hat,” Doc scoffed. “Not worthy of a gunslinger.”

            “You’re not dressing Alice up as you, are you?”

            Doc stayed silent.

            Dolls laughed and looked up at Jeremy again. But Jeremy was gone, across the room doing something else – maybe his actual job. The sight still made Dolls’ heart twist. Clearing his throat, he stood upright and stepped back from Doc. “That’s a good costume,” he said. “A little Doc Holliday walking around with the real Doc Holliday.”

            “We’ll match,” Doc said, his voice soft. “Two gunslingers in the Wild West out hunting for candy.”

            Dolls was glad he couldn’t see the look in Doc’s eyes, couldn’t see the expression on his face, because the softness in his voice was heart-wrenching enough. Walking back to his desk, Dolls managed, “That’ll be really cute. Wish I could see it.”

            “Come along,” Doc said.

            Dolls made the mistake of looking up once he was back in his chair. Doc had swung around in his seat, all lazy posture and widespread legs, and was looking at Dolls with the kind of mischievous expression Dolls had learned not to like. His heart rate picked up a bit as he stared, remembering the warmth, wondering what the fuck was wrong with him.

            “The backup will be good,” Doc said, lazy, not caring how the words made Dolls’ heart sink. “Who knows how many revenant doors we’ll accidentally knock on?”

            “No one knocks on doors anymore,” Jeremy grumbled. He dumped a stack of files on Dolls’ desk before walking away again.

 

Dolls’ Halloween was a shit show if there ever was one. Calls came in from every corner of the city – attacks and pranks and attacks that could be considered pranks and pranks that could be considered attacks. He spent the whole day speeding from place to place with Wynonna at his side lamenting about how Doc wouldn’t let her see Alice’s costume. Waverly had apparently offered to tell her but she’d refused, opting instead for complaining about the surprise.

            By the end of the day, they were exhausted. Nicole came in to take over for them, looking just as tired from babysitting as they did from working. Dolls wished her luck as they headed for the truck.

            “You ready for round two?” Wynonna said as they started towards her house.

            Dolls let out a huff of breath. “Could it really be any worse?”

            “Trick or treating with the Earp heir and the future Earp heir?” Wynonna sighed and sank back into the seat. Dolls stole a glance at her – the long curves of her body finally relaxed, her hair cascading down her shoulders in tangled waves. She turned her head his way and smiled. “It’s gonna be the goddamn worst thing you’ve experienced in your entire life.”

            “Because of the revenants or because I’m letting you loose near free candy?”

            “Ha ha.”

            He looked over at her again as she let out a long, slow breath, sinking deeper into the seat. “Are you sleeping all right?” he said as he looked back at the road. The sun was already sinking in the sky, shadows spreading long across the yellow lines. “Alice isn’t keeping you up, is she?”

            Wynonna shrugged. “I’m on that weird mother-baby sleep schedule where I sleep when she sleeps. Which would be great if she slept. Or I could drink more caffeine.”

            “What about Doc? Waverly?”

            “I’m hardwired to wake up when she cries.” Wynonna yawned.

            Dolls wanted to offer to let her stay home, to get some rest while they went trick-or-treating. But he knew she wouldn’t give up the opportunity to be with Alice on her first Halloween, that they would have to pry the baby out of her hands to do so. Despite her whole no-cares attitude, she loved Alice more than anything else in the world.

            They stopped in front of the homestead and tread through the snow up to the house. Wynonna pushed through the door, still yawning, and they were both met with Doc shouting, “No! Not yet!”

            Wynonna glanced back at Dolls. He put his hand on the small of her back, peered further into the house. “Doc?” he called. “What’s going on?”

            “Two seconds!”

            They exchanged a glance. Wynonna shrugged and dropped her bag. She slumped down into a chair, her eyes drooping, only to snap immediately back to attention when Alice let out a sharp cry. Worry flooded her face and Dolls squeezed her shoulder.

            “Doc’s got her,” he said.

            Wynonna nodded, relaxing a little but not nearly enough.

            Then Doc emerged from the next room, cradling Alice in his arms. Wynonna got up immediately and Dolls approached with her. Doc had the most brilliant, loving smile on his face as he looked down at his daughter, not even bothering to glance their way in greeting.

            And there Alice was, in his arms, dressed as a mini Doc Holliday. She had little jeans on, a plastic belt buckle, and a button up shirt. Her little brown vest almost looked like real leather and the cowboy hat was balanced precariously on her head. She even wore one tiny cowboy boot – her other foot clad in a half-kicked-off white sock.

            Wynonna let out a small laugh as she tilted back the hat. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “She looks just like her daddy.”

            Doc chuckled as Wynonna moved closer and Dolls felt that familiar uncomfortable tugging sensation in his heart, that feeling that he was intruding, that this wasn’t his family. He swallowed it back as he stepped away, leaving them to have their moment. They looked right like that, somehow. The three of them were family. They lived under one roof. Dolls wasn’t sure how he’d convinced himself that it was platonic, not when it clearly wasn’t when in front of his eyes.

            Alice gurgled and Wynonna hushed her, her voice gentle and melodic. Smoothly, Doc passed her off to her mother and Wynonna took her into the other room to feed her. Doc sighed, following them with his eyes, and then looked back at Dolls.

            “No costume, deputy?” he said.

            Dolls smiled. “You’re not wearing a costume either.”

            Doc spread his arms out to the sides. “I’m Doc Holliday. Fastest draw in the West.”

            Dolls snorted. “Not really a costume, is it?”

            “Is to anyone who doesn’t know.”

            Doc stepped forward, closer than necessary. Dolls shifted a bit but didn’t back down. He met Doc’s eyes and tried to read the look there. It’d been a while but he was still used to and on alert for Doc’s easy aggression. For months, he’d expected it to come back with the birth of his daughter. It hadn’t. If anything, Alice’s birth had made Doc lazier and more welcome. But now here it was, in the form of Doc standing just a bit too close, scanning Dolls like there was something dangerous hidden on him.

            Dolls started to shift some more when Doc didn’t say anything, didn’t make any empty threat, didn’t make any move against him. Just kind of stood there, a little too close. Then, Doc reached out and steadied Dolls’ hip.

            “Stop fidgeting so much,” he said.

            Dolls frowned. “Are you drunk?”

            A soft smile spread across Doc’s lips and then he shook his head. He took a step back. “Sorry, no. Just exhausted. Alice never sleeps.”

            “Wynonna was saying the same thing.”

            “Wynonna never sleeps either.” Doc looked over his shoulder as if he could see them in the next room through the wall. Warm affection flooded his eyes. “I don’t know how much longer either of them can keep it up.”

            Dolls hesitated just a moment before letting his instincts take over. He touched Doc’s arm lightly, letting the warmth of his hand sink in, and smiled when he looked back. “It’ll be all right,” Dolls said, soft. “It’s always like this at the start. You’ll get through it.”

            “I wish you were here,” Doc said.

            “I am here.”

            “I mean all the time.” Doc cleared his throat, backed away from Dolls’ touch. He even looked away as he kept talking. “Sure, we’ve got Waverly to help out and Nicole’s around, but sometimes I feel like you’re the missing piece. Like without you, Alice is missing her father.”

            “You’re her father.”

            Doc turned, his eyes wide and wet, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by Wynonna re-entering the room. She’d settled Alice into her stroller – the baby’s outfit mostly obscured by blankets. Wynonna plastered a big smile on her face. “Are you ready to go?”

 

Alice and Wynonna both fell asleep on the ride into town. Dolls slowed the truck a little, careful to drive around the bumps in the road. Doc twisted the dial on the radio station until he found the least offensive static then left it on as white noise. Alice gurgled in her sleep. Wynonna shifted in response but didn’t wake.

            “Should we turn around? Let them sleep?” Dolls whispered.

            Doc shook his head. “Alice will wake up as soon as the car stops moving. Just keep driving.”

            So Dolls did. He drove into town and then started to weave through the neighbourhoods. He slowed further to let children cross the street, to make sure he didn’t accidentally hit them when they ran in front of his car. But he kept moving under the orange glow of the streetlights, through the breathless noise of screaming kids and doorbells ringing. When he looked over at the passenger seat, he noticed Doc had fallen asleep too.

            He’d been through nearly the whole town when Alice woke with a start, letting out an ear-piercing howl that had Dolls slamming on the brakes. Wynonna shot upright, immediately leaning over Alice and whispering pleasantries. Doc woke slower. Or rather, he woke right away but squeezed his eyes shut even tighter, groaning, before re-entering the world.

            Dolls got his nerves under control and continued forward. “Everything all right back there?”

            “Yeah,” Wynonna started, then, “No. Are we near the station? I need to change her.”

            “Two minutes.” Dolls took a turn and started down the main road. He cut the engine outside the station and watched as Doc slipped out to help Wynonna with the baby carrier. They shuttled her inside between them and Dolls followed slowly after, listening to their light bickering over if she needed to be changed or fed or burped or all three.

            All three won out.

            “Do we still have time for trick-or-treating?” Wynonna said as she patted Alice’s back. She rocked side to side on the balls of her feet. “I don’t want her to miss out just because we fell asleep. It seems important. Baby’s first Halloween and all.”

            Dolls glanced up at the clock. It was a little after eight. “We might have a few minutes left.”

            Wynonna beamed at him and Dolls felt that familiar tug at his heartstrings, that feeling he’d been telling himself the whole time was for the worst. But he couldn’t bring himself to brush it off, even when Alice burped up milk and Wynonna winced in disgust and Doc, chuckling, wiped the baby’s mouth.

            They walked out of the station and started with the closest houses. Tired faces with shallow bowls of candy came to the door. Doc held Alice in his arms, a picture perfect baby Doc, and smiled at each and every old lady they woke. Most of them smiled or chuckled, commented on their matching outfits, and tucked a piece of candy into the baby carrier. More than one of them joked that the candy was really for Wynonna.

            It only took ten houses before Alice started to cry. Doc shushed her, cradling her close, and Wynonna rubbed her back. She glanced at Dolls and said, “Would you get the car? I think she just wants to go back to sleep.”

            Dolls nodded and turned away as they moved on to the next house. He walked back to the station and the truck, trying to figure out why he felt so peaceful and calm while watching the woman he loved raise a baby with someone else. He smiled to himself when he brought back the image of Doc Holliday with his mini Doc. Maybe they were just good together. Maybe that was all there was to it.

            Dolls drove the truck back to where he left them, moved a few houses forward, and caught them coming back from another house. Wynonna smiled when she saw him, visibly relaxing, and she and Doc got to work putting the carrier back into the car. When it was done and Alice was snuggled inside, both she and Wynonna promptly fell asleep.

            Doc chuckled as he slipped into the passenger seat. “Now they sleep.”

            “Guess the car really does help,” Dolls said.

            “I think it’s you,” Doc said. “They know they’re safe.”

            Dolls gave him a sideways look and met Doc’s eyes unexpectedly. And Doc didn’t look sad like he used to, didn’t look like he was saying he thought Dolls was a better father. Instead, he looked full of genuine affection and thankfulness. Dolls felt his heartbeat speed up. Doc wrapped his hand around his on the gearshift, his fingers warm and rough.

            “Thank you,” Doc whispered.

            Dolls wanted to say something, anything, in response but a lump got caught in his throat. After a second, he nodded and then looked over to see if Doc got the point. But Doc’s eyes were closed, his breathing steady, and like his family, he was fast asleep.

 

Dolls parked the truck in front of the homestead, cut the engine, and sighed. Everyone stayed fast asleep. Carefully, he got out of the truck and came around to take Alice out. She shivered in the sudden blast of cold air, stirred, but ultimately stayed asleep. Dolls let out a deep sigh of relief as he headed instead with her.

            Waverly looked up from where she sat on the couch. “Where’s Wynonna?”

            “Asleep.” Dolls set Alice down carefully. “Can you get her into her crib? I have to get the other two babies.”

            Waverly nodded, smiling.

            Dolls headed back out to the truck and hesitated before opening a door. He didn’t know who to wake first, who needed more sleep. He also didn’t know if he could manage to carry Doc. So he went to Wynonna instead, gently unbuckling her seatbelt and scooping her up in his arms.

            “Alice,” she murmured.

            “She’s with Waverly,” Dolls whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

            Wynonna grumbled and curled into his body. Dolls tried not to let it go to his head, tried not to read into it. He carried her inside and up the stairs to her bedroom. Waverly was setting Alice down in the crib at the foot of the bed and she looked up with a gentle smile on her face.

            “They haven’t been getting much sleep,” Waverly whispered. “This is good.”

            Dolls settled Wynonna down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. She rolled immediately towards the middle of the mattress, snuggling down into the warmth of the bed. He held back an affectionate chuckle as he and Waverly left the room together, leaving the door slightly ajar.

            “Any ideas for Doc?” Dolls said.

            Waverly smiled. “Don’t think you can carry him, deputy?”

            Dolls shrugged. “He’s not very small.”

            “Wake him up,” Waverly said. “He sleeps at the office all day anyways.”

            “He does what?”

            “Oops.” Waverly raised her hand to her mouth like she hadn’t meant for that to slip out but her sparkling eyes said otherwise.

            Dolls shook his head at her as he headed back to the truck one last time. He opened the passenger side door to look down at a sleeping Doc. He shook his shoulder. “Doc,” he said, “wake up. Come inside.”

            Doc grumbled nonsense.

            Dolls reached over to undo his seatbelt then tapped him on the knee. “Come on. Up and at ‘em.”

            Doc’s eyes opened lazily, blearily, like it was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his century long life. He yawned. “Can’t carry me in too, big guy?”

            “Shut up.” Dolls offered him a hand and Doc took it. Dolls hauled him to his feet, let him lean against him as he closed the truck door and started towards the house.

            They stumbled together up the stairs, Doc leading the way to Wynonna’s room and Dolls’ feeling that familiar twist in his gut. He tried to leave Doc at the door but Doc pulled him all the way in, holding on to him with grand desperation. Dolls deposited Doc on the other side of the bed where Wynonna hadn’t quite taken over all the way and then stepped back.

            Doc caught onto his wrist. “Stay.”

            Dolls shook his head. “Get some sleep.”

            “Stay.” Doc pulled him hard and rolled closer to the middle of the bed. Wynonna grumbled when he bumped into her but moved over easily as if she was used to this kind of man-handling.

            Dolls stumbled and leaned against the bed for balance. “Let go, Doc.”

            “It’s late,” he mumbled. “Too late. Stay.”

            “Fine. I’ll stay. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

            “No.” Doc pulled him harder, more insistently, and Dolls wondered exactly how sleep deprived Doc really was.

            With a sigh, Dolls gave in and crawled into bed beside him. Doc pulled him closer, so that he was nearly curled around him, and Dolls relented for many reasons he didn’t want to examine very closely. He relented because he was tired. He relented because Doc was warm. He relented because of that feeling he got whenever he was too close to Doc, whenever Doc stopped talking and just looked at him. He relented because somehow being curled around Doc felt right.

            He felt Doc shift in his arms and propped open an eye to see Doc pulling Wynonna closer. She moved willingly into his arms, now half-awake, and glanced up to see them both behind her. If she was surprised at all, she didn’t show it. Instead, she just closed her eyes again and drifted off.

            Dolls thought a minute, maybe two, passed in peaceful silence before Alice started to cry.


End file.
